Project Overview The "Empowerment of Women Farmers in Gadchiroli" project will work with tribal communities in the remote villages of Dhanora and Korchi blocks. It aims to strengthen women's institutions, climate-resilient agriculture, forest and livestock-based livelihoods, nutrition and health, inclusive participation, and evidence-based programme delivery. The approach emphasizes community ownership through women's SHGs, producer organizations, Gram Sabhas, government convergence, and sustainable local enterprises.
The role will implement sustainable forest management, NTFP, biodiversity conservation, and forest-based livelihood interventions, with strong community mobilization, technical guidance, value-chain support, and coordination with government and community institutions.
Key Responsibilities:
Prepare village and cluster work plans and mobilize forest-dependent communities, women SHGs, FRCs, and producer groups.
Promote scientific harvesting, conservation, regeneration, biodiversity protection, agroforestry, bamboo development, and sustainable NTFP use.
Support collection, grading, processing, value addition, storage, packaging, and marketing of locally available forest produce. Conduct trainings, demonstrations, exposure visits, and prepare local-language IEC materials.
Facilitate convergence with forestry, tribal development, livelihood, skill, and forest-rights programmes. Support women-led enterprises through business planning, aggregation, market linkages, finance, and entrepreneurship.
Maintain records, biodiversity registers, MIS, reports, and documentation of learning and success stories. Coordinate with Gram Sabhas, FRCs, JFMCs, departments, NGOs, technical institutions, and partners.
Participate in reviews, monitoring visits, evaluations, and quality-assurance processes. Ensure timely implementation with gender inclusion, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable resource management.
Qualification
Bachelor's degree in Forestry, Agriculture, Rural Development, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Science, or a related discipline.
Experience
Minimum 3-4 years in forestry, NTFP promotion, watershed or tribal development, natural resource management, or community programmes.
Languages: Marathi essential; working Hindi and English; Gondi or Madia is an advantage. Extensive travel required.
Period Sep 2026 - May 2027 (8 months) Extendable for additional 2 years based on performance and project funding
